SPRINGFIELD — Illinois Treasurer Michael Frerichs has returned a Purple Heart medal to the family of World War II veteran Russell J. Reilly of Chicago ahead of St. Patrick’s Day. Reilly served about three years in the U.S. Army and was honorably discharged in 1945 as a private first class after losing his right leg during combat. The medal was discovered in a safe deposit box that was turned over to the state as unclaimed property in 2018. Reilly later returned to the Chicago area, worked as a police clerk and courthouse deputy, and raised a family before his death on St. Patrick’s Day in 1980 at age 60. The return is the 18th Purple Heart reunited with a family through the state treasurer’s Operation Purple Heart program.
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